History Merseburg–Halle-Nietleben railway

2007 – merseburg station



1967 – new halle-neustadt station (now: halle zscherbener straße)

the bad lauchstädt–benkendorf–angersdorf line, branched merseburg–schafstädt railway , opened in 1896, used local freight transport. in 1944/45, used diversion route when railways , bridges on saale in merseburg area damaged in war, subsequently lost limited passenger traffic.

during implementation of 1958 chemical program of gdr, on 1 hand chemical sites @ buna works , leuna works massively expanded and, on other hand, planned dormitory suburb of chemiearbeiterstadt halle-west (later halle-neustadt) redeveloped 1964. construction of new rail link between new residential , workplaces began on 2 january 1966. continuous bad lauchstädt–angersdorf railway replaced new link, opened on 24 april 1967. new buna-werke station had been served 2 days earlier trains on merseburg–schafstädt railway.

passenger services ran on new line weißenfels via großkorbetha, leuna-werke, merseburg, buna-werke , halle-neustadt halle-nietleben. commuter trains chemical workers (known pelzerzügen, literally fur worker trains ) operated each day in 1980s carry 9,600 workers between halle-neustadt , buna works. each train carried 1,200 passengers. trains each made of 3 articulated sets of 4 double-deck carriages. length of platforms adapted length of train.

similar trains operated on halle–merseburg–leuna-werke–weißenfels route on thuringian railway. 2 services both listed in table 601 of timetable until 1992.

operations @ buna works changed after wende in 1989/90. takeover dow chemical, modern production facilities built, old ones shut down , demolished. due associated substantial reduction in employment, passenger numbers on line fell significantly. services on merseburg–schafstädt railway numbered 588 in timetable issued in 1992.

in end, trains consisted of class 143 electric locomotive , double-deck driving trailer. used commuter traffic monday friday in morning , afternoon. journey time 6 train pairs day between merseburg , halle-nietleben 22 minutes. passenger services abandoned @ timetable change on 9 december 2007, last trains had run 2 days earlier.

the section holleben (near junction halle–hann. münden railway) until shortly before s-bahn halt of halle zscherbener straße, on few freight trains operated in 2010 (carrying bulk material track maintenance nietleben station, stored), closed in 2011. federal railway authority (eisenbahn-bundesamt) approved db netz’s application close line effect 31 august 2011.